Rolling device steered using the tilting angle and comprising offset rollers

ABSTRACT

The aim of the invention is to improve inline skates so as to provide stability during skating, good acceleration, and added skating fun by having the skates turn more or less in accordance with the tilting angle. Said aim is achieved by a rolling device in which the rollers that are arranged largely one behind another are rotatably mounted in individual roller supports, the roller supports are pivotally attached to the chassis by means of inclined shafts, and the rollers are disposed in a laterally offset manner relative to the center line. In a simple embodiment depicted in FIGS.  4   a  and  b,  the steering unit is composed of two respective rollers ( 2 ) which are mounted in a rocker-type roller support ( 3 ″) in an offset manner relative to one another by a distance ( 9 ). The roller support ( 3 ″) is pivotally attached to the chassis (not depicted) by means of a shaft ( 8 ) which extends at an angle α relative to the horizontal line. The rolling device generally comprises two steering units encompassing a total of four rollers.

TECHNICAL AREA

The invention relates to rolling devices like roller skates, inlineskates, Skateboards, rollers and skis on rollers. In particular, theinvention deals with steered rolling devices, which are able to tiltsideways, their rollers tilting sideways as well.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Steering mechanisms which have the steering property depending on thetilting angle possess the advantage of true carving as compared to freesteering mechanisms. An inherent stability is felt by the skater due tothe erecting centripetal force when skating along a curved track. Suchrolling devices mainly have rollers, where two of them are orientedbeside one another. Their tilting angle is narrowly limited (e.g.Skateboard, Quad roller skate), but the comfort of the movement islittle. Inline skates have no limitation to the tilting angle. They useconventional cheap inline skate rollers, are cheaply manufactured, butdo not function to steer.

Tilt-steered rolling devices incorporating rollers arranged one asideanother, where the rollers tilt as well, are known from DE 19803412 A1and from EP 1213043 A1. But their technical complexity is comparablyhigh.

DE 10256680 A1 describes a roller support mechanism, where the singleroller supports are allowed to pivot about an axis which is inclined, ordeclined respectively. This is disadvantageous, because the steeringangle is independent from the tilting angle.

DE20305190U1 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,098,997A describe supports, which arepivotally attached to the chassis, the pivot axes being orientedvertically. The use of rollers of alternating slim and wide profiledesign results in a steering property which depends on the angle oftilt. Unfortunately, differently profiled rollers must be applied.

WO 2005/039710 A1 describes an inline skate which incorporates tworoller supports, each support, containing a pair of rollers arranged onebehind another, is pivotally attached to the chassis. The pivot axes areinclined or declined, respectively. However, the steering effect isunpleasantly strong.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,963,252A describes an arrangement of cylindricallyprofiled rollers. Each single roller is suspended and arranged in-lineat a chassis. This arrangement has no coordinated steering function dueto the undefined kinematics.

DE29619755U1 describes a roller skate incorporating rollers arrangedin-line, each roller support being pivotally attached to the chassis,where the pivot axes are horizontal and where biased suspension springsregulate the rollers' position. A steering function was neither intendednor achieved.

WO2005/097273 A1 describes an embodiment, where four rollers arerotatably mounted in-line at a bendable flat spring rod. The spring rodis at its middle attached to the shoe. It allows bending to theinwards-up direction or to the outwards-down direction, respectively.The outer curving skate is steered, according to the bending of the rod,whereas only the two non-steering inner rollers of the inner curvingskate have contact with the ground. The two inner rollers of this skatehave a wider profile than that of the front and end rollers, which havea narrow profile thus assuming an offset position upon bending of thespring rod. The skate is disadvantageous as the rollers requiredifferent profiling, the load is unequally distributed across therollers and the inner curving skate has poor tracking capability.

WO97/18017 A1 describes a seesaw-type twin-roller support, where theshaft is oriented horizontally. DE19715706 A1 describes again a seesawwith a horizontal pivot axis using elastic damping elements.Additionally, a pivotally attached single roller support is disclosed,where differently profiled rollers are claimed to provide bettersteering capabilities. However, a true steering function cannot result,as all roller axes are oriented in parallel.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Technical Problem

The purpose of the invention was to describe a steering rolling devicewhere the steering effect is coupled to the angle of tilt, whichincorporates rollers essentially oriented in-line, which allows a ratherlarge angle of tilt, which provides a comfortable carving capability,and which uses conventional inline skate rollers.

Technical Solution

Using a tilt-steered rolling device comprising an optional applicationpart, e.g. shoe, rolling ski binding or board, a chassis and at leastone steering group, wherein the steering group consists of two steeringunits, which may also be combined in one piece, wherein the steeringunit consists of one roller support and at least one roller which isrotatably mounted to the roller support, and wherein the roller supporthas a pivot shaft attached to the chassis, this purpose is achieved byan embodiment characterized in that the pivot axis extends at an acuteangle a relative to the horizontal line 5 and the trace 6 of the atleast one roller 2 is disposed in a lateral offset manner relative tothe longitudinal mid-line 7 of the rolling device.

Beneficial Effects

Disposing the trace 6 of the roller 2 in a laterally offset mannerrelative to the mid-line 7 of the rolling device combined with the skewangled pivot axis 4 lead to a steering angle which is almostproportional to the angle of tilt. The known conventional in-line skaterollers can be incorporated. The true carving property is now realized,including the beneficial effect which result from a steering effectwhich is proportional to the angle of the sideways tilt.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1 a-1 c show a section of the chassis 1, a roller support 3 and aroller 2. They show the pivot axis 4 which extends at an acute angle awith respect to the horizontal line 5, the pivot shaft 8, the mid-line 7and the track 6 of the roller at the ground, viewed in perspective (FIG.1 a), viewed from behind (FIG. 1 b) and viewed from below (FIG. 1 c).

FIGS. 2 a-2 c show a section of the chassis 1, two roller supports 3, 3′including rollers 2 and pivot shafts 8, the coupler 11 which connectsthe two supports 3, 3′, and the lateral offset distance 9 between thetwo traces. FIG. 2 c shows the arrangement viewed longitudinally,including the pivot axes 4, 4′ of the two supports 3, 3′.

FIGS. 3 a, 3 b show an embodiment of a whole rolling device, anyapplication part (e.g. shoe) not depicted, consisting of a chassis 1,two steering groups, each consisting of two roller supports 3, 3′including rollers 2, in tilted position, as viewed from the side, FIG. 3a, and viewed from below, FIG. 3 b, depicting the respective steeringangles.

FIGS. 4 a, 4 b show a different embodiment of a roller support 3″ withtwo rollers 2, as seen in a perspective view in FIG. 4 a. The tracks ofthe two rollers 2 which are disposed in a laterally offset mannerrelative to one another by a distance 9, the pivot shaft 8 and the angleα between its axis 4 and the horizontal line 5 are seen from behind inFIG. 4 b.

FIGS. 5 a, 5 b show an entire embodiment (not depicting the shoe),consisting of a chassis 1 and two twin-roller steering groups withroller supports 3″ and rollers 2, seen in perspective view, FIG. 5 a,and seen from behind, FIG. 5 b. FIG. 5 b shows the orientation 4, 4′ ofthe pivot axes, the horizontal line 5 and the angles α, α′ between them.

FIG. 5 c shows a perspective view of an advanced embodiment includingthe chassis 1, two twin-roller supports 3″ and four rollers.

FIGS. 6 a-6 c exemplify three embodiments of bearings which provide thepivoting of the roller supports 3, 3′, 3″ around the pivot axis 4,attached to the chassis 1.

FIG. 6 a: using a skew drilled hole along axis 4 to accommodate theshaft.

FIG. 6 b: using two shafts 13, positioned off-axis relative to oneanother, and using two universal joints 10.

FIG. 6 c: using two shafts 13 and using two bearings 11 made fromplastic or rubber, optionally connected to two flanged bushings 12.

FIG. 7 shows sections of two twin-roller steering groups and as anexample a spring 14 which causes the steering units to re-assume theirneutral position.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The steering unit, as shown in FIGS. 1 a-1 c incorporates all featureswhich are necessary to accomplish the steering effect of the roller.With an increasing angle of the sideways inclination (or tilt) againstthe vertical line, the off-midline mounted roller moves upwards withrespect to the chassis (or downwards, when tilting to the other side).This up- respectively down-movement is converted to a frontalinclination angle respectively a rearward declination angle of theroller support 3, 3′, 3″. Due to the skew orientation of the pivot axis4 the mentioned inclination angle is inherently transformed into asteering angle. The steering angle is proportional to the product fromthe off-midline distance 9 multiplied with the angle which extendsbetween the pivot axis 4 and the horizontal line 5, and multiplied withthe tilting angle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention claims that the rollers roll along tracks 6, which aredisposed in an offset distance relative to the (mid-line) axis of tilt7. The axis of tilt 7 is defined by the line (axis) around which theskate turns upon tilting sideways. The axis of tilt 7 is represented bythe cut of the longitudinal vertical mid-plane of the chassis 1 with theground plane herein called mid-line. The lateral offset distance betweenthe track 6 and the axis of tilt 7 can be realized by differentembodiments. One is using rollers which have non-symmetrically shapedtires, which have the largest circumference placed off the roller'smid-plane. In another technical embodiment the two rollers which belongtogether have a camber angle between them. As seen from the front thetwo rollers would then appear like an ‘X’. Both embodiments arestraight-forward solutions, they needed not be depicted. Any combinationof the three embodiments may be used. The preferred embodiment is bydisposing the rollers in a laterally offset manner relative to oneanother. This embodiment has the advantage that the steering propertycan be varied by changing the lateral distance between the trace 6 andthe axis of tilt (which is the midline) 7 for instance by choosingdifferently sized washers during assembly of the roller.

The roller support 3 needs a counter force, so that under load theresulting moment is counter acted. According to the state of the art anelastic bumper or a spring may be fixed at the chassis in order to bearthe roller support. According to claim 2 and as shown in FIG. 2( a-c)the preferred embodiment comprises two complementary roller supports 3,3′ which are each pivotally attached to the chassis 1, and which areinterconnected by a connector 11 so that the pivot movement of the oneroller support causes by means of the connector 11 the other rollersupport to pivot similarly and vice versa.

As seen from FIGS. 2( a-c) the weight lasting on the chassis 1 isequally distributed on both rollers. It is shown also that the tworollers preferably roll along traces which are laterally offset relativeto one another by a distance 9. The axis of tilt uses to be locatedamidst the two traces.

Ideally, every roller should have its own steering angle, so that allrollers roll along a common circle at the ground. Preferably, this isachieved by making the angles α of the pivot axes 4 proportional to thedistances of the respective roller axles from the middle of the Chassis.

According to claim 3, two steering groups as described above arearranged one behind another, as shown in FIG. 3. The angles α whichextend between the pivot axes 4, 4′ (see FIG. 2 c) and the horizontalline 5 are chosen so that the front steering group steers inward and therear steering group steers outward.

The described steering group steers inherently asymmetrically whentilting right or left, as the steering effect is stronger to the oneside in comparison to the other side. This asymmetry can be corrected,by arranging two steering groups one behind the other. Additionally,according to claim 5 the two front rollers 2 of the respective steeringgroups have traces 6 at the one side of the axis of tilt 7 and the tworear rollers 2 of the respective steering groups have their traces atthe other side of the axis of tilt 7, and the angles α, α′ of the pivotaxes 4, 4′ of the two front roller supports 3, 3′ are opposite to theangles α, α′ of the pivot axes 4, 4′ of the two rear roller supports 3,3′. This embodiment is shown in FIG. 3. This embodiment combines thestrong steering effect of the one steering group with the weak steeringeffect of the other steering group so that their sum remains the same inboth cases, when tilting right and when tilting left, hence cancelingthe asymmetry of the steering.

The rolling device is less complex when the steering group is made ofonly one roller support 3″ and two rollers 2, where the two rollers 2have traces which are disposed in a laterally offset manner relative toone another. This embodiment, as claimed by claim 4 is illustrated inFIGS. 4 a, 4 b. As compared to two separate roller supports which wouldneed two separate pivot axes 4, 4′ this seesaw-like roller support 3″has only one pivot shaft 8 oriented at an angle related to thehorizontal line 5. This embodiment is disadvantageous in that the bothrollers 2 do not steer independently, but have a common steering angleinstead. Hence, there is friction during curved skating. However, thefriction is only minor when the curving radius is large. The friction isaffordable in view of the simpler design and the low weight.

The preferred embodiment is characterized in that two said steeringgroups are arranged one behind another at the chassis, as inherentlyclaimed in claim 6.

The said embodiment steers asymmetrically. As claimed in claim 5 theasymmetry can be corrected in that the two front rollers of the tworespective steering groups have their traces 6 at an offset distancefrom the axis of tilt 7, the two rear rollers of the respective steeringgroups have their traces 6 at an offset distance at the other side ofthe axis of tilt 7, and the angle a pertaining to the pivot axis 4 ofthe front roller support 3″ is opposite to the angle a pertaining to thepivot axis 4 of the rear roller support 3″.

A skater, during parallel curving with both legs at the ground may takeadvantage from an asymmetrical steering function, so that the bothcircles which are performed by the both legs have coinciding circlecenters, thus avoiding that the two circles intersect. This feature canbe achieved, according to claim 7, by an embodiment, where therespective two rollers of the two steering groups have traces which aredisposed in a laterally offset manner relative to one another bydifferent distances 9 and/or where the angles α, α′ of the pivot axes 4of the roller supports 3″ which extend relative to the horizontal line 5are not equal. This allows for the beneficial incompleteness of thecompensation of the aforementioned steering asymmetry. Similarly, theasymmetry of the steering action may be achieved by an embodiment whichcontains e.g. four single-roller supports 3, 3′ (according to claim 3),where the respective two rollers of the roller supports have traceswhich are disposed in a laterally offset manner relative to one anotherby different distances and/or where the corresponding pivot shaftsextend at different angles α relative to the horizontal line 5 asillustrated in FIG. 3.

I order to touch down with all 4 rollers simultaneously at the groundafter finishing the accelerating step it is desirable that the steeringgroups, when free of load, re-assume the neutral straight position. Thisis achieved by using intermediate parts made from rubber-like plastic,by using steel spring elements or by using a spiral spring 4, as shownin FIG. 7.

FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of the invention which is furtherartistically designed.

In order to provide bearings for the skew pivoting shafts to be attachedto the chassis 1 three detailed embodiments are shown in FIG. 6. Theembodiment shown in FIG. 6 a is of simple design but causes more effortfor the creation of moulds, and required that the design takes care ofan axial weight component. The embodiment shown in FIG. 6 b avoids theaxial weight component but needs costly universal joints. The embodimentshown in FIG. 6 c additionally is noise absorbent and is cheaplyproduced.

The left and the right skates use to by designed symmetrically. One ofthem, usually the right skate, should have a brake attached to it.Designs are known, where the brake holder including a rubber block isaffixed to the chassis 1.

The above described rolling devices incorporate preferably four rollers.5-wheelers may be designed, e.g. by incorporating a fifth rollerrotatably mounted to the chassis in its middle. A 3-wheeler may have aroller rotatably mounted to one end of the chassis and a steering grouparranged at its other end. In this case the rolling device steers ratherstrongly asymmetrically. This feature may be interesting for skaters whoprefer divergent carving effects, e.g. slaloming skates, free-skates,fun-skates.

Economic Value of the Invention

Inline skates are a proven mass product. Similar skates which havecarving capabilities may become a good selling innovative product.

1. A tilt-steered rolling device comprising an optional applicationpart, e.g. shoe, rolling ski binding or board, a chassis and at leastone steering group, wherein the steering group consists of two steeringunits, which may also be combined in one piece, wherein the steeringunit consists of one roller support and at least one roller which isrotatably mounted to the roller support, and wherein the roller supporthas a pivot shaft attached to the chassis, characterized in that thefrontal projection of the pivot axis 4 extends at an acute angle αrelative to the horizontal line 5 and the trace 6 of the at least oneroller 2 is disposed in a laterally offset manner parallel to thelongitudinal midline 7 of the rolling device.
 2. A rolling device asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the steering group comprises two rollersupports 3, 3′ including two rollers, where each roller 2 is rotatablymounted to one roller support.
 3. A rolling device as claimed in claims1 and 2, which incorporates two steering groups.
 4. A rolling device asclaimed in claim 1 wherein the steering group consists of one rollersupport 3″ and two rollers
 2. 5. A rolling device as claimed in claims1, 2 and 3, wherein the two front rollers 2 of the respective steeringgroups have traces 6 at the one side of the axis of tilt 7 and the tworear rollers 2 of the respective steering groups have their traces atthe other side of the axis of tilt 7, and wherein the angles α, α′ whichextend between the pivot axes 4, 4′ of the two front roller supports 3,3′ and the horizontal line 5 are opposite to the angles α, α′ whichextend between the pivot axes 4, 4′ of the two rear roller supports 3,3′ and the horizontal line
 5. 6. A rolling device as claimed in claims 1and 4, wherein the two front rollers 2 of the respective twin-rollersupport 3″ have their traces 6 at the one side of the axis of tilt 7 andthe two rear rollers 2 of the respective twin-roller support 3″ havetheir traces at the other side of the axis of tilt 7, and wherein theangle a which extends between the pivot axis 4 of the twin-rollersupport 3″ and the horizontal line 5 is opposite to the angle α whichextends between the pivot axis 4 of the rear twin-roller support 3″ andthe horizontal line
 5. 7. A rolling device as claimed in claim 1,wherein the respective two rollers of the two steering groups havetraces which are disposed in a laterally offset manner relative to oneanother by different distances 9 and/or where the angles α, α′ of thepivot axes 4 of the roller supports 3″ which extend relative to thehorizontal line 5 are not equal.
 8. A rolling device as claimed by claim1, wherein the roller supports 3, 3′, 3″ return to their straightsteering neutral position by means of elastic elements 14.